MUSINA, South Africa (Reuters) - Skies
darkened over southern Africa and Australia on Wednesday as a rare
total solar eclipse raced across both continents, delighting
astronomers, astounding tourists and confusing animals as day became
night.

"It's amazing for
us," said 15-year-old Rhengu Baloyi as he peered skywards with
special eclipse glasses distributed by South African tourism
authorities.

"For a moment I
thought our lives were going to be endangered."

The eclipse first
touched African shores at around 12:15 a.m. EST as the moon moved in
between the sun and the earth, blocking out the summer sunshine.

Starting from Angola,
the lunar shadow sped eastward across the continent at speeds greater
than 3,125 miles per hour, momentarily casting parts of Namibia,
Botswana, Zimbabwe and South Africa into darkness before heading out
to sea at Xai-Xai in Mozambique.

The total eclipse
touched southern Australia at 4:10 a.m. EST.

Thousands of
astronomers, serious and amateur, tourists and new age worshippers
gathered on a beach at the outback coastal town of Ceduna on the south
Australian coast to watch the astronomical phenomenon.

Sitting on deck chairs
or beach towels Australians watched in awe as the moon crept across
the sun, applauding "totality," and claiming the ocean
seemed to calm as the eclipse occurred.

In Australia's main
city of Sydney, sky watchers were treated to the sight of brown smoke
from dozens of bushfires wreathing the setting sun as the moon crept
slowly up its face.

TEMPERATURES DROP

In northern South
Africa, cars pulled to the side of the road in rural areas in and
around the country's famous Kruger National Park as tourists put
themselves into prime position to see the celestial spectacular.

It grew colder, the sky
grew black and the murmuring crowd went quiet as the moon passed in
front of the sun.

"It's
awesome," said Cherie, a South African woman.

Nearby, dancers kicked
up clouds of dust at an all-night rave party held to mark the eclipse.
People sporting nose-rings, tattoos and tie-dyed shirts boogied in the
bush to booming techno music.

"It was amazing.
Life is never going to be the same after this," said Ben, a
wild-haired rave fan from Cape Town decked out in surfer necklaces and
mirrored sunglasses.

Across the border in
Zimbabwe, visiting motorists viewed the eclipse through dark viewers
while school children made do with tinted plastic bags in defiance of
media warnings that this could cause eye damage.

Elsewhere along the
eclipse path, villagers continued tilling their fields, pausing only
for a few minutes to watch the eclipse, while some joined long queues
outside rural shops for scant supplies of food in a country where
about half the estimated 14 million population faces starvation.

CONFUSING FOR ANIMALS

Wildlife experts said
the eclipse could be briefly confusing for animals, although the speed
with which daylight returned would probably prevent any major impact.

In Johannesburg, South
Africa's commercial capital, the eclipse meant the sun was about 85
percent obscured. Partly cloudy conditions hid much of the action,
however -- a disappointment for many who were hoping to get a good
view of the last eclipse in the region for almost three decades.

The eclipse had been
billed as a major tourism draw for southern Africa, where towns along
the path of the total eclipse have set up special festivals and travel
companies have packed tourists into hotels, game lodges and national
parks to witness the sky go dark.

Tourists at Musina's
five-day eclipse festival picked through handicrafts and souvenirs,
which included T-shirts proclaiming "Africlipse."

But some businesses
reported less than stellar sales, which they attributed to overpriced
tour packages, some cancellations following a series of attacks on
tourists, and general hype involved with the event.

"It's a marvelous
opportunity which has become a total disaster," said Alida
Lourens, who was selling pottery at the Musina festival.